Poll Supports Aid For Working Poor

Three Idaho advocacy groups released a statewide poll Thursday showing strong support among Idahoans for programs to help the working poor.

“There’s a lot of talk about this being an economic boom in the state,” said Jen Ray, executive director of the Idaho Women’s Network. “We’re seeing a lot of folks who are struggling.”

The Women’s Network, the Idaho Community Action Network and United Vision for Idaho commissioned the poll of 600 Idahoans, which was conducted in September by Garin-Hart-Yang, a Washington, D.C., research firm.

It showed more than 80 percent support for providing free or low-cost health insurance for working families who can’t afford it on their own; 80 percent support for more college loans to help lift people out of poverty; 76 percent favoring bringing farmworkers under Idaho’s minimum wage law; and 70 percent support for state child-care subsidies for parents who work full-time.

“There is support for state assistance for working folks who are struggling to make ends meet,” Ray said.

However, the programs advocated by the groups - from the minimum wage for farm workers to increasing Idaho’s minimal welfare payments - have received little support in the Legislature.

“Are the people right or are the legislators right? We’ve got to ask,” said Leo Morales, a 21-year-old Boise State University student from Wilder who started working in farm fields at the age of 10. “I hope they will listen to the people.”